WORKERS with a Birmingham-based Islamic charity have distributed £2 million worth of medical and food aid to the victims of the Gaza disaster.

Islamic Relief’s emergency team began an operation to deliver aid hours after the first Israeli bombs dropped on December 27 and have continued their work throughout the conflict.

The international arm of the charity has distributed food to 200,000 people sheltering in hospitals and school buildings at a cost of £700,000.

Aid workers have also delivered £1 million worth of ambulances, heart machines, medication and other equipment to Gaza’s main Al Shifa Hospital and five other hospitals.

The charity, which has offices in Rea Street South, Digbeth, has raised more than £12 million since it launched its Gaza appeal and is planning to spend a further £2 million in the coming months on emergency relief and long-term development in the region.

Mohammed Al Sousi, country director for Islamic Relief Palestine, said: “It’s as if a hurricane has swept through the streets of Gaza, there is so much destruction.

“Many people have lost everything they owned and are homeless, hungry and in desperate need of emergency relief including food and clean water.”

Mr Al Sousi said his workers are also concerned how the conflict has affected the psychological well being of the population of Gaza, especially children.